hot & fast

that pretty much describes today's workout. the summer sweatiness has finally arrived and that makes tuesday evening workouts NO FUN.

we're in the midst of hill training so i quite logically thought our repeats were going to be on a hill. i did wonder why we would be running hard for a 1/2 mile up hill, which seemed unreasonably difficult, especially in this weather, but who am i to second guess my awesome coaches?

i left work early enough to deal with any train issues which seem to be happening more often lately. it seemed like we might get a little rain, which would have been a nice release. when we got to the park our coach outlined the workout for us - warm up for about a mile then begin our repeats: run hard for a 1/2 mile, and recover a 1/2 mile back. repeat until the coach says stop.

warm up was uneventful, mostly i spent my time dreading the speed work out. as we all know...i'm not fast. these workouts will make me faster, but typically anything that involves sprint-like-activity makes me feel slightly demoralized. yeah, i know its silly but i can't help it.

despite my lack of enthusiasm and the oppressive weather, the run went pretty well. i even felt...well, if not fast, then faster during my third 1/2 mile, during which i had enough energy at the end to nearly sprint. of course, i think this caused my it band to start nagging my hip during my 4th and 5th (the final) repeat.

we cooled down back to the picnic benches where some of the assistant coaches surprised coach tif with a baby shower for him and his wife. not only did we get the treat of watching a grown, buff man coo over tiny baby things, but we got treats like oatmeal raisin cookies and rice crispy treats. mmm.

tomorrow, i'm going to do some morning squats and push ups and things, and then thursday morning a run. not sure if we're going to head to jersey this weekend - my legs might need a little break from the hills.

today's mileage: 6.0
time run: n/a
season mileage to date: 146.8

sprint for 1/4 mile. recover. repeat.

it's tuesday, which means some sort of tortureous workout from our coaches.

making a 6:45pm practice is no easy feat most days, so this has been the first tuesday i've attended, which is not great because that's when we do a lot of strengthening, technique and - what i need the most - speed work.

it was raining when i left work, but i'll take rain over blistering heat so while i wasn't exactly thrilled, i also wasn't too cranky about it. by the time we began, the rain had actually subsided to a slight drizzle and we were left to run our repeats in a recently cooled-off park.

we were to warm up, and then starting at a certain point, we would sprint (effort level 4) for a quarter mile, and then take another quarter mile to recover. repeat until the coaches let you stop.

i was a little nervous since i hadn't been doing any of these work outs really and wasn't sure how i would do. i did okay. i took my recoveries nice and slow, making sure i was ready for the next fast run and then would sprint my butt off.

after twenty or twenty-five minutes or so, we were allowed to head back. a little stretching and 3 wtf mosquito bites later (through my clothes? really?), i was red-faced and sweaty but feeling pretty okay.


today's mileage: 3.9
season mileage to date: 74.6